Confused! Please help!

[maxie]

I'm so confused. Okay so I was all set to phone and book the AS movies for Sept 9-16 for my honeymoon using a DC membership. Then I heard the rumor regarding the at par deal. On Thursday of last week I phoned the travel agent just to ask them what it was all about. He quoted me a price of $608 for the AS with the at par deal. (It was $770 with club card). I said great - book it and gave my mastercard. He said there would be a $50/person deposit. Fine! He phoned this morning saying the reservation came back unconfirmed. He's going to try another tour operator(???) but the price is going to be an additional $45 and a deposit of $200/person! I don't get it! Why are the prices varying? SHould I just phone the CRO office myself? PLEASE HELP!

 

[grover]

I would just phone CRO and book myself, that way you know exactly what is going on. CRO can give the at par details you don't need a travel agent to do this. I am not sure why the big price difference, call CRO and see what they say. If you have DC you can call them at the 1 800 number.
Grover in Winnipeg

 

[maryliz]

Maxie ... how many nights are you staying ??? I had booked ASMu for 13 nights using an AP rate of $60.37/night US including taxes for a total of $785 US. I then booked ASMu for the same 13 nights using the at par deal which gave me the room at $86/night Cdn or $54.47/night US including taxes for a total of $695 US. I was only required to give one nights deposit on either reservation and I don't pay anything else until check-in. These were made by myself calling CRO. I know DC rates have different deposit amounts and you must pay in full 45 days out (I think) -- sounds like you were being quoted DC rates instead. You definitely don't need DC to get the at par deal. I would compare your number of nights to mine and the prices and see if it works out to what you were quoted. I really think you are being asked to pay way too much in a deposit. Good Luck !!

 

[twinz]

I am not to sure if this will help, or if I am very accurate in my information. I do not work in the travel industry but have taken Travel/Tourism in night school, about a year ago. Most travel agents charge a commision fee on EVERY fair they book (this is a big chunk of how they get paid). Deposits also vary with the company that the travel agent books through. Ask your travel agent questions reguarding your concerns. They should be able to answer them, a good one always will! Tour operators are the companies that they book though (eg Sunquest, World of Vacation---they are the people that put out those travel brouchers). I hope this helps.
Leslie

 

[PoohBWV]

I have to step in here and disagree about travel agents charging commission on every fare they book. Our commission is paid by the supplier whether it be through someone like Holiday House or World of Vacations, or right from Disney themselves. The price quoted to you by Disney from CRO is the same price that is quoted to a travel agent. If you book directly through CRO then Disney simply keeps the commission as they have actually done the work to book it instead of passing that commission along to the TA's. Disney however will not cut the price for a direct booking as they would then be forcing TA's (who do the majority of their bookings) to charge more for the same rooms. If you have concerns, ask your TA who they are booking through. As stated earlier policies do differ from company to company, however if your TA books directly through Disney then your price will be the same and the deposit should be one nights charge.

In some situations a TA will charge an administsration fee or similar but this will be priced separately to the client. This is most predominant now on airline tickets as the major airlines no longer pay commission. Therefore the TA must charge the client a fee or else they are not making any money on the sale. This however is not the case (at least with the agencies in our city) on any booking made for a hotel/package/cruise etc. Only on a air only ticket.